Anne asks Hop Pop to retrieve the music box, bringing some long-buried secrets to light.
That night, Anne is sitting in bed, admitting to herself that she's too excited for the Temple adventure to sleep. She hears noise upstairs, and sees Hop Pop leaving the house. She follows him, thinking he's just being his silly self, and decides to sneak up on him as a prank. She watches him dig a hole, and then react with shock.
- Hop Pop: The music box, it's gone!Anne: (Beat) What?
Caught in the act, Hop Pop is forced to reveal that there were never any contacts; he thought the box was dangerous and buried it. Anne is understandably furious. Hop Pop tries to explain that it's complicated, but Anne shuts him down, telling him that the box is her only clue on how to get home, and that Hop Pop, by burying it, has basically betrayed her. Overwhelmed, Anne runs into the woods and tells Hop Pop not to follow her. Hop Pop watches, clearly guilt-ridden.
The next morning, Polly and Sprig jump out of their bedrooms, pumped up for the quest...only to pause when they see an exhausted-looking Hop Pop sitting at the kitchen table. He tells the kids what happened the night before, and that Anne's run away. Sprig is upset, but says that while he doesn't understand why Hop Pop did what he did, it's his responsibility to fix it. Reinvigorated, Hop Pop goes to find Anne. Meanwhile, Sprig and Polly go off to figure out where the music box went.
Anne wakes up after spending the night in the cave she lived in before meeting the Plantars, admitting to Rocky that she'd rather stay there after Hop Pop's betrayal. Hop Pop, meanwhile, searches the woods and finds a trail of Anne's stuff that he follows, believing it will lead him to her.
While this is going on, Sprig and Polly go into town to see if anyone knows anything, and learn that possessions from people all over town have have been disappearing. Soggy Joe after scaring the kids by jumping out of a bush and shouting reveals that the missing possessions are the work of the Magpie Beetle, a bug that steals items to make its shell more appealing to potential mates during their annual "love-nado dance". Following his advice (and ignoring his warning), Sprig and Polly race back to the farm where they notice that a tunnel connects to the hole Hop Pop dug. As it starts to rain, they follow it, and find the "love-nado dance". One of the beetles is wearing the box. Sprig jumps after it, but the beetles get violent and attack the kids.
Back at her cave, Anne is venting her frustrations about Hop Pop to Rocky. Hop Pop finally finds the cave, looking wet and sad. Anne tells him to go away, and ignores his pleas to hear him out. He's about to tell her something important, something he claims is hard to talk about. Just then, however, they hear Sprig and Polly screaming. They rush after them, and see them caught in the beetles. Anne tries to rescue them on her own, not trusting Hop Pop. He implores her to work with him, if only to save the kids. She begrudgingly agrees, and the two save the kids. Sprig manages to get the music box away from the beetles as they escape.
Now that everyone's out of danger, Anne takes the box and says that she's done, still refusing to return home. Hop Pop tries again to tell her that he's sorry, and that he never wanted to hurt Anne. She doesn't listen, but stops dead at Hop Pop's next sentence.
- Hop Pop: Sprig and Polly's parents.
Sprig and Polly try to stop Hop Pop, telling him that what happened wasn't his fault. He stops them and tells the story. Years ago, when Sprig and Polly were very little, a duo of herons attacked Wartwood. Hop Pop had been on a journey at the time. Sprig and Polly had hidden in the basement and survived. Their parents, however...weren't so lucky.
Hop Pop took custody of Sprig and Polly, swearing that he'd never let his family down again. Thus, when he learned that Anne's box was dangerous, he panicked and buried it, only wanting to keep them safe. Now he knows that this was a foolish thing to do, as Anne is family. He admits that he let them all down, and breaks down in tears, stating how sorry he is. Anne, finally understanding, hugs Hop Pop.
- Anne: Hop Pop, I forgive you.
The family goes home, and Hop Pop shows the kids the book with the Box, revealing that it's true name is "The Calamity Box". Anne admits that the name does raise eyebrows. Still, now that everything's out in the open, they feel more ready than ever to take on whatever comes next...though Hop Pop still asks if they would wear the puffy suits.
Tropes:
- Art Shift: When Hop Pop talks about Sprig and Polly's parents, the events are shown in a sketch-like slide show with minimal animation.
- Broken Pedestal: Any respect Anne had for Hop Pop goes down the drain after she finds out he buried the Calamity Box and lied to her. She eventually forgives him after he tells her about Sprig and Polly's parents' demise.
- Call-Back: After running away, Anne returns to the cave she used to sleep in before the Plantars took her in to take shelter for the night as seen in "Cane Crazy".
- Calling the Old Man Out: A subdued version, as Anne is too upset to really even talk to Hop Pop outside of a brief What the Hell, Hero? moment, and Hop Pop himself already knows he was in the wrong.
- Companion Cube: Anne returns to the cave where she used to stay before she met the Plantars, where she has set up a rock as a companion. She talks to "Rocky" as she does her "hair."
- Easily Condemned: After finding out that Hop Pop buried the Calamity Box and lied to her, Anne is quick to believe that he did it for selfish reasons and runs away.
- Easily Forgiven: Unlike Anne, Sprig and Polly aren't mad at Hop Pop for hiding the Calamity Box from her, even if they admit they don't understand why he did so—instead they tell him he needs to fix this. Anne's only willing to forgive him after he gives a heart-to-heart revelation about what happened to Sprig and Polly's parents.
- Eaten Alive: This is what (presumably) happened to Sprig and Polly's parents.
- Et Tu, Brute?: The look of betrayal on Anne's face as she learns Hop Pop lied about the Calamity Box is priceless.
- Exact Eavesdropping: As Hop Pop shouts that the Calamity Box has disappeared from its hiding spot, Anne, being too excited to be asleep, just happens to follow him and hear him.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- Anne's other shoe can be seen in the whirlpool of stolen goods.
- When Hop Pop is digging up the hole where he buried the Calamity Box, the tunnel that the magpie beetle dragged it through can be briefly seen to the side, partially obscured by his hair.
- Internal Reveal: At long last, Anne finds out that Hop Pop buried the Calamity Box since the Bizarre Bazaar incident. He also shows her, Sprig and Polly the book that mentions the box.
- It's a Long Story: Hop Pop attempts to tell Anne "It's complicated" as to why he hid the music box, but Anne rejects this, because she needs it to get home. End of story.
- It's All My Fault: Hop Pop blames himself for the death of Sprig and Polly's parents, despite him being out of town when the herons attacked, and we've seen even a well fortified army struggle against those birds.
- Meaningful Name: It rains through most of the episode, especially during Hop Pop's apology scene. When the rain stops, the family is back at the farm, with Hop Pop and Anne having started to repair their relationship.
- Mid-Season Twist: Anne discovers Hop Pop buried the Calamity Box instead of giving it to friends as he claimed—she also learns how Sprig and Polly ultimately came to be under the guardianship of their grandfather.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The ending has Hop Pop show Anne, Sprig, and Polly the entry he found about the box from "Anne vs. Wild", and he and Anne comment of the box's actual name being "The Calamity Box" and why Hop Pop thought it was dangerous.Anne: "Calamity Box"? Eesh. That does sound bad.
Hop Pop: Yeah. Not exactly comforting. - Oh, Crap!: Hop Pop has a really shocking reaction when Anne reads off that they need the music box for their trip to the First Temple.
- Penny-Pinching Crab: Despite being called Magpie Beetles, the creatures that have been stealing stuff look quite like crabs, even having claws.
- The Reveal: We finally learn what happened to Sprig and Polly's parents: they were eaten in a heron attack on the village.
- Sequel Episode: This episode serves as one to "Bizarre Bazaar", during which Hop Pop first buried the Calamity Box.
- Survivor Guilt: Hop Pop has this in regard to the death of Sprig and Polly's parents.
- Shout-Out:
- Anne is shown to have used a rock as a companion in her a cave รก la Wilson in Cast Away.
- When Sprig and Polly leave to find Anne, Polly spin-dashes like Sonic the Hedgehog, while Sprig rides her by landing on top of her, much like in Yooka-Laylee.
- One of the objects taken by the Magpie Beetles resembles Dipper Pines' signature hat.
- Stealth Pun: Anne's other shoe makes its return in the very episode where Hop Pop's lie is finally exposed. In other words... the other shoe dropped.
- Symbolic Distance: Anne keeps her physical distance from Hop Pop for most of the episode because she's mad at him for burying the music box and lying to her about it. When he gives an explanation for his actions (he wanted to protect his family after losing Sprig and Polly's parents to a heron attack) and a sincere apology, he starts to close the distance by walking towards Anne but stops halfway. When she forgives him, she walks the rest of the way and hugs him, closing the physical and symbolic distance.
- Thieving Magpie: It turns out the Calamity Box was stolen by a "magpie beetle", an insect that collects shiny objects as part of an elaborate mating ritual.
- Wham Episode: Anne finally finds out about Hop Pop hiding the music box—she's (understandably) furious and doesn't truly forgive until he tells her how he blames himself for what happened to Sprig and Polly's parents.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Anne is furious when she discovers Hop Pop buried the music box and lied to her (and she has every right to be), so she tells him off for it. To his credit, Hop Pop quickly realizes what he did was wrong.
